Wednesday, February 26, 2014

여러분안녕하세요!!!보고싶다!!!!! - February 23

I never know how to start these so for now we'll go with the good ole fashion woowwww another week has just zzoommmed on by!!! (If you are wondering if I'm that awkward on the street when I talk to people in Korean, yes.)

Elder Fowler and I worked super hard this week and had fun doing it. We are still struggling to build up a good pool of investigators, so we decided that we shouldn't even bother worrying about things we can't control and just focus on what we have total control over. We set a really huge goal to talk to 245 people in a week and get at least 15 potential investigators from the people we talk to. That is a whole lot of people and Gum Choen has a lot less people than my previous areas, so we were in for a challenge. Since it was so big, we seemed to be urgent all week about working hard and such and because of that we saw tons of miracles that I'm really excited to share.

First things first. Last Monday, We had a member meal with a family in our ward. Something I always seem to bring up at these meals is how I love ALL the food in Korea, even the super weird food here (dog, rotten stingray, silkworms). When the members find out that I like it, they flip out. So after I told them I like hot silkworms, they said that it was one of their favorites and that they had some in the house! My poor sweet little Elder Fowler.....I said that he had to try at least one, at which point the member said if he tries one then he'll go home next week, hah. Luckily, he stuck it out and ate one bug while the rest of us ate the whole can (yes they come in a tuna can shaped can). She also fed us these weird mountain veggies that tasted awful, but I learned really quick that if you scarf down any food that members put in front of you and say its the best thing you've ever eaten they will love you. My status as Elder Shik sun is well in tact.

Okay, now for the actual miracles (well I guess Elder Fowler getting a silkworm down was a miracle) So it was Tuesday after dinner, we were getting ready to go out and talk to people on the street, but I didn't really have a clue where we should go. In lots of missionaries areas, there are a few good spots for contacting but I have not found very many in this area so far. So, I decided to try something I've never done. Instead of praying next to the door right before we go out, I suggested we pray in front of the map and ask Heavenly Father to guide us where we need to go. We said the prayer and I looked up at the map and didn't have any particular feeling for one area. Elder Fowler finally pointed to an area we had never been to. We had never been there, but I knew that there were not very many people there and we had a big goal that night to talk to lots of people. I got a little skeptical thinking he has been here less than a month he doesn't know and how are we gonna find anyone there? I decided to ignore my thoughts and trust that God really did put that into his heart. We started for that area. In order to get there, you have to walk on these stepping stones across a wide river. We were on these stones on top of the river when we met a man who wanted to talk! We had a 20 minute gospel discussion literally on the river. He accepted a Book of Mormon and gave us his number to meet again. I'll send a picture of exactly where we met, cause it was really really cool. It was a good lesson that no matter how much experience I have or he lacks, we are entitled to the same level of inspiration.

Thursday was one of the craziest days of my mission so far. We couldn't get anyone to meet with us, so we decided that we would share the gospel with 60 people just on that day. We realized that we should be trying several different finding methods instead of just the same thing so we decided to do streetboarding with the other Elders in our area for the afternoon. Streetboarding is us standing in a busy area in front of a poster of a Korean Family with the quote, " The most important work you will ever do is that within your home", or something like that. We were really emphasizing the family, but it was a really rough time. One of those times when you feel like nobody you talk to really cares about anything you have to say. We didn't find anyone to teach in that time and had a rough time getting rejected, but on the way there and the way home we got 3 numbers of people that agreed to meet. That night we went to visit a less active member. On our way, we met this guy who after I said hi he said you don't have to preach to me. I believe in Jesus. I then told him I was looking for people who believe in Jesus because I have I message that doesn't take away your belief but adds to what you already had. That caught his attention. We then had a good ten minute discussion about the Book of Mormon and how it testifies of Christ. He accepted it and also an appointment to explain how the Book of Mormon came to be...great story right? Well, we were at our less actives door when he called not 5 minutes after we had met. He asked where I was and that he was coming. Our less active wasn't home so we walked out of the apartment complex and there he was. He said that the way we just gave him the book and got his number was rude and then how our church had not roots (authority) back to Christ. I then took 5 minutes to explain how the roots were restored through Joseph Smith, but he just said your wrong. He gave me back the book, told me to delete his number and never call him. I was really sad to the point where I couldn't think straight. I just started walking really fast not even the way we entered the apartment complex. It was for sure an "I want to give up moment" We had talked to so many people that day and had very little success and then just had the biggest success given to us then taken back away. I wouldn't being sharing this in this email unless it wasn't for what happened next. So walking out of the apartment complex a different way got us totally lost in an unfamiliar part of our area and we were supposed to be home right then and I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. We ended up standing at this random intersection. A lady walked up to me she said that she had lived in Utah and been to our church. She said a long time ago she went to the church here but couldn't remember where it was and that she would be interested in coming again. I was completely speechless. This miracle gave me motivation for the rest of the way home. We finally found the bus to get home. I sat down next to this man. This man happened to be the 60th person I decided to open my mouth to that day. He said he didn't have religion, but that he wanted to learn english and would be willing to listen to an introduction to our church beliefs. I talked last week about the whole "talk with one more person" method. It has never ever been harder to get back up after falling down than it was last Thursday night. But, I've never seen the power of God so plainly in front of my eyes.

From 금천, with love. Elder Nixon

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